Flying can bring out the most primative fears in us all. I was once greatly comforted by seeing the elephant-headed Ganesh, Hindu God of auspicious beginnings, in the clouds during a particularly nasty flight into New Orleans. The flight was so bad that after two aborted landings we set down in Baton Rouge where 6 people got off to drive into N.O.

Good thing I didn't know about Akash Bhairav. I don't think I could have recognized him in the clouds no matter how hard I tried.

every time I fly to Europe I see the counter displays for those 1 plane African Flag carriers. Would not touch any of them with a 10 ft pole. same with some of the mid-east ones. However some of the Arabs got smart. Instead of having maintenance done in the home country by Paki's, they do most of their maintenance on the European legs (and almost everything they fly is Europe to ME). Anyway the smart ones use Lufthansa. Nothing but nothing makes me feel better about getting on a plane to somewhere than to see some blonde haired guy with the blue and yellow stork seal on his hat working on the engine.